Once you have a pair of these babies on, Colonel Steve Austin, the Six Million Dollar Man, wouldn’t have much on ya’. Compact and lightweight, Walker’s Tactical Ear III W-C, by Walker’s Game Ear, gives military special operators, LE tactical operators, and serious shooters two-way communications ability, a noise reduction rating of 29 decibals against loud bangs, and ambient sound amplification to nine times normal levels.

It goes without saying that if a military special operator is on a dangerous mission in some God-forsaken country, or a SWAT tactical operator is on a stakeout or conducting raid, it’s advantageous if they can…

hear the bad guys before the bad guys can hear them, and simultaneously have adequate hearing protection immediately, just in case a firefight happens to breaks out.

What separates Walker’s Tactical Ear III W-C from the other Tactical Ear products is it’s two-way communications feature. It can receive signals from a transmit wire that is worn around the neck and connected to the operator’s walkie-talkie. The Tactical Ear III W-C grabs the signal coming from the neck loop right out of the air.

Another neat feature of Walker’s Tactical Ear III W-C, and that is shared by Walker’s Tactical Ear II, is it’s AFT(Adjustable Frequency Tuning) circuit, which allows the user to customize the frequency response to their individual need, depending on their specific combat environment. For instance, a military Spec-Ops operator is much more likely to wind up in a higher decible environment involving sustained automatic weapons fire than an LE tactical operator, dignitary protection team member, or government agent, all of whom are much more likely to be on some kind of low to medium decibal-level urban operation.

The Tactical Ear III W-C is lightweight and compact, and no special fitting is required. It’s only 1.06 inches high by .34 inches wide, and weighs less than 1/4 ounce. Constructed of rugged, non-reflective plasic, it incorporates a large number volume control, along with an integrated on-off switch. The unit operates on a 1.4v cell battery, which is included. It also comes with one ear plug and a carrying case.

Personally, if I were going to use a Walker’s Tactical Ear, I would wear a Walker’s Tactical Ear II in each ear alongside New Eagle’s excellent Special Operations "bone mic" headset, or one of their Enforcer Series Headets, either their Enforcer I or Enforcer II, both of which also operate using "bone mics" a.k.a. "bone vibrators". Since the New Eagle headset would cover all my two-way comm needs, the Tactical Ear III W-C’s built-in two-way comm circuitry would be unnecessary. The Walker’s Tactical Ear II/New Eagle headset combo would give me one hell of a tactical hearing/communications package. It’s certainly not the least expensive way to go, but why quibble over money when your life is on the line?

About David Crane

David Crane started publishing online in 2001. Since that time, governments, military organizations, Special Operators (i.e. professional trigger pullers), agencies, and civilian tactical shooters the world over have come to depend on Defense Review as the authoritative source of news and information on "the latest and greatest" in the field of military defense and tactical technology and hardware, including tactical firearms, ammunition, equipment, gear, and training.